Convertible couch



Nov. 7, 1939. JOHNSQN 2.179.152

CONVERTIBLE COUCH Filed June 19, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L If F 53 f 1%Mew? -zas i'adeflfikmsvm Nov. 7, 1939. G. A. JOHNSON CONVERTIBLE couca 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 1937 Patented Nov. 7, 1939 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CONVERTIBLE oonon Application June 19, 1937, Serial No.149,108

Claims.

This invention relates to couches and the like articles of furniture ofthe convertible type adapted for use, when desired, as a bed or cot.

The conventional couches comprise a suppor ing structure which carries aseat frame to which is attached a padded or cushioned back rest, suchback rest usually being of substantially the same length as the seatframe and of a width (height) substantially the same as the front torear width of the seat frame and cushion. While this back rest is highlydesirable when the occupant of the couch is seated, it is of littlevalue except possibly as a screen when the occupant uses the couch as abed.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a couch or thelike article of furniture of the aforesaid type, which is so designedthat the back rest may be swung downwardly by a simple manipulation ofparts which are readily accessible; and to provide a convertible couchwhich is of pleasing and attractive appearance and wherein the operatingmechanism is normally concealed, though readily accessible, and which isof strong and durable construction, embodying a minimum number of parts.

Further objects will be apparent from a consideration of the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a couch constructed in accordance withthe present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevation of one end of the couch; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The embodiment herein shown comprises a conventional. seat structure Ihaving the usual cushion on its top surface and rigid upstanding endmembers 2 providing arm rests, the entire structure being supported oncasters 4 carried by legs 5. A cushioned back rest 6 is pivotallysupported at or adjacent to the rear longitudinal edge of the seatstructure so as to swing from an upright position (Figs. 1 and 2) to asubstantially horizontal position, shown by the dot and dash lines inFig. 2. Although the back rest may be of any conventional design, itslength and width preferably conform to that of the seat structure so asto cooperate therewith when swung downwardly to provide'twin sectionswhich form a double bed, as indicated by the dot and dash lines of Fig.2. In order to maintain wellbalanced proportions which enhance theappearance of the couch, the lower edge of the back rest is positionedwell below the seat cushion, as shown in Fig.2, and, as hereinafter morefully described, the connections between the back rest and seatstructure are such that when the backrest is swung downwardly, it ismoved rearwardly relative tothe seat structure and its lower edge isguided to a position contiguous to the rear edge of the seat cushion.

The inner face of each of the end members 2 adjacent to the central rearedge is provided with a block 9 (Fig. 3) to which is attached a metalplate It formed with a slot l l which extends from adjacent its lowercorner to adjacent its diagonally opposite corner, the lower end of theslot terminating in an offset recess l2, as shown in Fig. 4. The marginsof the slot H are preferably pressed outwardly to form a bead M whichnot only strengthens the plate, but also provides guiding means spacedfrom the surface of the block 9. The upper (left hand) corner (Fig. 4)is provided with a pintle and a pin it is provided between the pintle l5and the lower end of the slot I I.

The back rest may be of conventional construction, having horizontal topand bottom frame members and 2| (Fig. 3) and vertical end members 22which may be of fabricated steel, such as angle-iron, suitably braced bydiagonally extending members 23. The horizontal and vertical framemembers are preferably disposed so as to define a shallow recess in therear face of the back rest, in that their outer edges project beyond therear wall 24 (Fig. 3) of the back rest. The vertical members 22 areformed with elongate slots 25 spaced from their lower ends and theseslots receive the pintles It so as to form a pin and slot connection forpivotally securing the back rest 6 to the seat structure I, as shown inFig. 4. The lower ends of the frame members 22 are provided withoutwardly projecting pins 26 which extend into the slots H in the platein, the parts being so constructed and arranged that when the back restis inupright position the pins 25 are disposed in the recesses l2,thereby releasably to lock the frame members 22 in upright position.When the back rest is elevated sufficiently to withdraw the pins 26 fromthe recesses l2, it may be swung downwardly about the pintles I5 so thatthe pins 26 ride in the slots H.

In order to effect the release of the pins 26 and provide means forsupporting the back rest when swung to horizontal position, legs 30 arepivotally secured to the frame members 22 adjacent to their upper endsand a cross bar 3| is riveted or otherwise secured to the legs 30. Theopposite ends of the legs are cut or shaped to provide abutments 32arranged to engage the frame members 22 when swung to supportingposition, shown by the dot and dash lines of Fig. 2, thus limiting theoutward movement of the legs. The cross bar 3| not only increases therigidity of the structure, but also provides a handle for facilitatingthe release of the locking means or pins 26 in the manner presently tobe described.

The lower ends of each frame member 22, at a point between the slot 25and pin 26, is provided with a short rocker arm 34 pivoted at 35 so thatits outer end engages the pin it and causes the back rest to be elevatedwhen the arm is swung from an angular position (shown by the full linesin Fig. 4) to a substantially horizontal position (shown by the dot anddash lines in Fig. l) The inner end of each arm 34 is pivotallyconnected at 36 to one end of a link 38 whose opposite end is pivotallyconnected at B0 to the adjacent leg 30.

With the construction and arrangement thus described the links 38 aredrawn upwardly when the foldable legs 30 are swung outwardly, asindicated by the dot and dash .lines in Fig. 4, and consequently theentire back rest is bodily elevated so that the pin 26 is withdrawn fromthe recess l2, thus releasing the locking action of the pin 26 andpermitting the: back rest to be swung downwardly. The downward movementof the back rest is facilitated by the cross bar 3| which constitutes,in effect, a handle and which is at all times readily accessible. Duringthe downward movement of the back rest the legs 38 are naturally swungoutwardly to their full extent so that they are in proper position, asindicated by the dot and dash lines of Fig. 2, when the back restassumes a substantially horizontal position. The construction andarrangement of the slots H, pintles I5 and pins 26 is such that as theback rest moves downwardly, it is displaced outwardly or rearwardlyrelative to the seat structure by the engagement of the pins 26 with thebeaded edges l4,. so that when it assumes a horizontal position thelower edges of the cushion carried by the back rest are contiguous tothe adjacent longitudinal edges of the cushion carried by the seatstructure, and the links 38 are displaced outwardly to an extentsufficient to position the legs 30' so that the abutments 32 engage theframe members 22 and hold the legs at the proper angle of inclination tosupport the back rest in horizontal position.

In order to reposition the back rest, it is merely necessary to lift itupwardly to an upright position (Fig. 2), and during this movement theweight of the back rest, aided by the action of gravity, is effective toreposition the links 38 and associated parts so that when the back restis in normal upright position, the legs 3!), cross bar 3!, and links 38are substantially concealed within the recess defined by the horizontaland vertical frame members 20-22.

It will be noted that in a couch constructed in accordance with thepresent invention the weight of the back rest is effective to maintainthe pin 26 in locking position, and that the same movement ormanipulation required to release the locking pin is continued to swingthe back rest to horizontal position. Accordingly, a simple manipulationof a single part is effective not only to release and lower the backrest, but also to swing the foldable legs to back-supporting position.

It will be further noted that when the back rest is in upright position,its lower edge is concealed and hence its effective Width is reduced toan extent sufiicient to maintain balanced proportions comparable tocouches of the non-convertible type. Moreover, the operating parts aresubstantially concealed and hence do not detract from the appearance ofthe couch, and when the back rest is in horizontal position the onlyparts exposed to View are the legs, cross bar and a part of the loweredge of the links 38.

While I have shown and described one desirable embodiment of theinvention, it is to be understood that this disclosure is for thepurpose of illustration, and that various changes in shape, proportionand arrangement of parts, as well as the substitution of equivalentelements for those herein shown and described, may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of furniture comprising a seat structure having adjacentto each end guiding means and a fixed abutment, a back rest pivotallyand slidably mounted on said seat structure so as to be swung to ahorizontal position, said back rest having guiding means cooperatingwith those of said seat structure and arranged releasably to hold saidback rest in upright position, said guiding means being constructed andarranged to release said back in response to a slight upward movementrelative to said seat structure so as to permit said back rest to beswung downwardly to horizontal position, foldable legs carried by saidback rest and operative when extended to support the back rest inhorizontal position when swung downwardly, and means including linksconnecting the legs and back rest and engageable with said abutments andoperative to move said back rest upwardly when said legs are extended,thereby to release said guiding means and permit the back rest to beswung to horizontal position.

2. An article of furniture comprising a seat structure having slottedguide means adjacent to each end, one end of each of said guide meanshaving an offset recess, a back rest having a pin and slot connectionwith said seat structure so as to swing downwardly to a substantiallyhorizontal position, the ends of said back rest having guide pinsarranged to slide in said slotted guide means and to enter the recessesso as releasably to lock the back rest in upright position, foldablelegs normally positioned against the rear face of said back rest andarranged to be moved to an extended position so as to provide a supportfor the back rest when swung to horizontal position, and meansassociated with said legs and arranged to move said back rest, relativeto said seat structure, when said legs are moved to extended position,thereby to effect the release of said guide pins from the recesses andpermit the back rest to be swung downwardly to horizontal position.

3. An article of furniture comprising seat and back membersinterconnected so that the back member may be raised relative to theseat member and swung to a horizontal position, one of said membershaving a recessed part and the other of said members having a projectionconstructed and arranged to engage said recessed part when said backmember is in an upright position so as to .lock the back member in suchposition, collapsible supporting means carried by said back member, saidsupporting means being constructed and arranged to be moved to anerected position wherein it supports the back member I5 in horizontalposition, and mechanism associated with said supporting means and saidseat and back members for raising said back member so as to disengagesaid projection from said recessed part in response to movement of saidsupporting means to extended position, thereby to permit said backmember to be swung to horizontal position.

4. An article of furniture comprising seat and back membersinterconnected so that the back member may be raised relative to theseat member and swung to a horizontal position, releasable locking meansfor holding the back member in upright position, said locking meanscomprising a recessed part carried by said seat structure and a lockingpin carried by said back rest, said locking pin being engageable withsaid recessed part tohold said back rest in upright position, and foldable links associated with said seat member and back member andoperative when moved outwardly from folded position to raise said backmember so as to disengage said locking pin from said recessed part andoperative when moved to fully extended position to support said backmemher in horizontal position when the latter is swung from uprightposition.

5. An article of furniture comprising a seat structure, an upright backrest pivotally and slidably secured to said seat structure so as to beswung downwardly to a horizontal position, releasable locking means forholding said back rest in upright position, said locking meanscomprising a recessed part carried by said seat structure and a lockingpin carried by said back rest, said locking pin being engageable withsaid recessed part to hold said back rest in upright position, anabutment member carried by said seat structure and foldable linksassociated with said back rest and operative to support said back restin a horizontal position when swung outwardly from folded position, saidlinks being connected with said locking means and having a partengageable with said abutment member so that when swung outwardly saidlinks are automatically operative to move said back rest outwardly fromsaid seat structure sufliciently to disengage said locking pin from saidrecessed part.

GUSTAVE A. JOHNSON.

